Community development

Sadly, the three noticeboards at the Hornchurch Road Shops in Ernesettle were damaged and irreparable, which is why the local community asked if we could support them to have a larger, more robust noticeboard as a replacement.

To gauge community interest, we carried out a local survey, which was shared on the local Facebook page which has over 8,000 members, and there were paper copies available at the local Post Office.

After completing a survey in the area and finding keen interest in a new notice board, PCH successfully made a bid on £2,000 Social Value funding together with a £400 contribution from the Councillors’ Community Grant. 

The new Community Noticeboard was fitted in December 2025, in time for the community to advertise their last Christmas Market. There are fifteen local groups and organisations with keys, all of which have agreed to follow guidelines that have been written with local community activists.

The new board shows our commitment to encourage respect for shared spaces, address community concerns, enhance the environment and improve community cohesion.

The group was set-up two years ago by the Pioneer Project and Ryan Huws, Communities Worker at PCH started supporting the group this year to increase the involvement of PCH residents. The group is working on transforming an old disused railway platform which is currently totally overgrown into a productive garden.

The stall was held by PCH contractor, Acorn by Synergie and the toys were collected by our Reuse Centre. Hundreds of people and children came along to buy items from the different stalls, enjoy a huge raffle and see Santa in his grotto.

Xavier Ayling-Brasnell, Branch Manager at Acorn by Synergie, said: “Over the next three years (by June 2027), we pledge to dedicate a minimum of 10,000 hours of company time towards initiatives and activities which will enhance social mobility within our organisation and the wider community.”

Run by Carl Goldsborough and his wife Sarah, alongside his team Gavin Bolger Jamie Landricombe, Vernan Pemprase, JP Eccles and Darren Lawton - the team operate from The Hillcrest Community Centre, a building leased to Carl by Plymouth Community Homes, which not only offers fitness and boxing sessions for all skill levels, but serves as a community hub, often hosting community led events and support gatherings.

Hazel Alexander, a Communities Worker from Plymouth Community Homes, is sometimes based at the centre, where she works closely with residents who visit the centre and helps identify the support and events needed in the area.

A large area behind Union Street Flats is now starting to look much brighter, more welcoming and tidier thanks to this initiative, with the help of talented artist Roy Christie. We have also already noted a drop in the amount of illegal graffiti happening in this particular area.

Each member also has to volunteer at the food coop sharing weekly duties on a rota that include unloading, packing and counting, and distributing the food.

Some of the highlights of The Beacon food coop’s first year include:

• Total FSSW food redistributed: 10,350 kg (Your Membership for this year- 7,500 kg: 150 kg x 50 weeks)
• Retail value to your community of food redistributed: £33,740 (Your Membership has cost £3,000 this year: £60 x 50)
• Provided meal equivalent: 24,640 meals (492.8 meals every week)
• 67% of the foods redistributed during the last year have been Fruit, Vegetables, Dairy, Bread and Ready Meals.

Together with other local partners, such as the local shops, the local pub and the bingo group, the Shed have also started to collect money for a community defibrillator. The nearest one is over a mile away and would be of no use in an emergency. Over winter, there were 3 medical emergencies near the Hall when a defibrillator would have been useful.

So far, they’ve raised £1,000 and need to raise £3,000 for all the equipment.

The Janner Men’s Shed meets weekly at Leigham Community Hall. This popular group comes together to socialise, have lunch and complete wordwork. It’s a safe place to meet, converse, share skills, create, and make new friends. The group is supported by a PCH Community Development Worker.

Last year’s Marine Edibles project was so successful that PCH and The Conscious Sisters worked in partnership to successfully obtain £20,000 from the National Lottery Fund and £2,000 from Sports England for fishing equipment to repeat the project over the next two years.

We have already started the first intake this year (2025) and have so far included shore fishing, boat fishing, a talk on the maritime history of Plymouth and a VR swimming with Dolphins experience. Attendees will also be learning to cook the fish we catch, making a fish pie and a Spanish fish stew.

Hayley, Community Worker, and Ashleigh, Learning Coordinator, ran regular workshops twice a week at The Beacon and North Prospect library for children to do crafts with their parents and guardians. In total, 14 sessions were held and each were attended by at least 20 children, plus their parents.

The activities started with decorating a scrapbook so that the children could then fill it up each week with what they were doing during the summer holidays. Many of the children then took their scrapbooks in to ‘show and tell’ when they returned to school. Some of the other crafts we did included decorating tote bags and pencil cases for school, air clay, wind chimes, bird feeders, sea glass and shell pictures, which were of a really high standard.

The adults enjoyed that as much as the children and have asked to make some for Christmas presents. We also with the Conscious Sisters arranged a trip to Mount Edgecumbe where the children and adults all enjoyed making fish mobiles from willow and reused netting.